


Sorrow So Sweet (The Alone in the Void Remix)

by amaresu



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: Character Study, Gen, Vignette, post-ToaTL
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-09-19
Updated: 2009-09-19
Packaged: 2017-10-02 12:06:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amaresu/pseuds/amaresu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He finds the letters after it's all over.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sorrow So Sweet (The Alone in the Void Remix)

**Author's Note:**

> Remix of [Sweet Sorrow](http://www.whofic.com/viewstory.php?sid=12171) by Alienist
> 
> The story that would've been my who_remix fic. Thanks to persiflage_1 for the beta.

He finds the letters after it's all over. Melanie has been returned to her proper time and suddenly the Tardis is empty around him. The silence is oppressive and hangs in the air, almost thick enough to suffocate him. He finds himself setting the coordinates to Thoros Beta half a dozen times before deciding to leave the Tardis orbiting in the Vortex. He doesn't need to go anywhere yet. The Tardis is a time machine, after all. If Peri is dead then there's nothing he can do and if she's alive, she's married and again there's nothing he can do. He keeps himself from thinking of a third option, that she is alive and waiting for him to come and get her.

Instead he takes to wandering the Tardis hallways. He doesn't choose a direction, just taking passages and turning down corridors by whim. It's several hours before he arrives where he was always going. Standing outside the door is like staring at the console and finally he pushes the door open. Walking into Peri's room feels wrong. She'd always hated it when he would walk in without knocking. She'd yell and they'd fight and it is something that will never happen again. That reminder is enough to take the last of his energy. He sits on the floor in the middle of the room, feeling useless.

Peri hadn't ever managed to keep it tidy. Clothes lie discarded across the floor, leaving a trail from her closet to the mirror on the back of the bathroom door. Books are stacked haphazardly around the room, dangerous towers ready to collapse at a moment's notice. A multitude of knick knacks picked up from planets around the universe line the shelves, leaving little room for anything else.

Perhaps that's why the box stands out. In the chaos of her room, Peri has left it in a clear space on her desk. A clear space of several inches surrounds the box on all sides, just a plain wooden box. Curiosity gets the best of him and he shuffles across the room on his knees to reach it. After picking up the box, he sits back down on the floor, crossing his legs and resting the box on them. He stares at it for several minutes before finally opening it.

Inside there are dozens of folded pieces of paper. He looks at them, neatly stacked in the box, a silent accusation he isn't sure he'll be able to read. The paper is plain notebook paper rather than any of the fancier paper available in the Tardis. After a period of consideration, he carefully unfolds the top paper, part of him expecting to hear Peri yelling at him about invasions of privacy. Releasing a breath he hadn't noticed he'd been holding, he looks down to read the page.

The first word makes his breath catch again.

_Doctor_

It's not unexpected, but terrifying at the same time. It's a simple opening, but the idea behind it is almost too much to contemplate.

_Doctor_

Such a simple word, but he can't read past it. Instead he folds the paper again and puts it back in the box. He closes it and stands, cradling the box against his chest. It's like Schrödinger's Cat. Peri could be alive or dead, happy or sad, married or waiting to hear the sounds of the Tardis appearing. The letters could be condemnations or declarations of love, simple reminiscing of adventures or outpourings of pain. As long as he doesn't look he can believe one way over the other. He can think of his Peri alive and happy and carrying fond memories of him.

He takes the box with him as he leaves the room.


End file.
